Freddy Burton Alex Tejada Honored by Sporting News

BY ANDRES FOCIL

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Freddy Burton and Alex Tejada were named Sporting News Freshmen All-America honorable mention, it was announced on Friday. Both players were also named to the SEC All-Freshmen teams.

Linebacker Freddy Burton has played in 11 games for Arkansas this season and has 23 tackles, including 12 solo stops. He has been a special-teams terror with a team-leading 21 tackles over those 11 games. Burton was named the Hogwired.com Special Teams Player of the Week following the North Texas game where he logged a career-high five tackles, including four solo stops on special teams. He earned his second Hogwired.com Special Teams Player of the Week honor with a team-high four special teams stops vs. Auburn.

Kicker Alex Tejada has been near perfect in kicking duties, going 17-for-21 in field goal attempts, with a long of 47 yards, and 57-for-59 in PATs in 12 games this season. He is 17 of 21 on the season in field goals including a perfect 12 of 12 from 40 yards or less. His 42-yard field goal against Tennessee was the fourth converted field goal from 40 yards or more for Tejada this season. He is four of seven from that range including a season-long 47-yarder. He ranks tied for 30th in the nation and fourth in the SEC in field goals, averaging 1.42 per game. His 9.00 points per game rank him third in the SEC and tied for 18th in the nation in scoring.

Tejada tied the school record for PATs in a game with nine against North Texas. With four successful attempts against Troy, Tejada became the first Arkansas kicker with four field goals in a game since Chris Balseiro’s performance in the 2003 Independence Bowl. Tejada’s 17 field goals made are the most by a UA kicker in a season since Todd Latourette made 17 in 1998.